Vans Old Skool Retro Sport
Colorway: Blossom/True White · Style code: VN0A38G1OI3 · Price: $2682 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Vans Old Skool 'Checkerboard Disarray' (VN0A38G10A6) · Vans Old Skool 'Grape Leaf' (VN0A38G10FI) · Vans Old Skool 'Ditsy Floral - White' (VN0A38G116Z) · Vans Old Skool 'Flash Skulls' (VN0A38G118C) · Vans Old Skool 'Tiger Floral' (VN0A38G119M)
The Retro Sport treatment is a proportion change more than a colour one. The midsole is bulkier than the slim vulcanised unit the model normally rides on, which lifts the whole shoe and gives the pink suede upper a heavier stance. Visible stitching along the panel seams is left on show rather than hidden, so the construction becomes part of the look, and the white branding and sidestripe pop hard against the Blossom shade.
At $80 it carried a premium over the plain canvas pairs of the same period, which is what the extra midsole and the suede buy you. A reinforced toe cap handles the abrasion that kills a soft upper first, and the padded collar keeps the ankle opening comfortable on a shoe that now sits higher off the ground. Pink suede in this weight is a summer colour that reads far softer than the saturated brights Vans runs in the same range, and it wears cleaner than a printed canvas.